Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Protecting Children en
Protecting Children en
.
ISBN 2-88477-095-X
Casa Alianza
Acknowledgements
5
.
Protecting the Rights of Children in Conflict with the Law
Foreword
In their efforts to comply with the Convention on the Rights of the Child
many States Parties have taken or are taking legislative measures to
address the problems of children in conflict with the law, an area also
known as juvenile justice.
Over the past 15 years we have seen a lot of legislative measures and a
lot still has to be done. But for the coming years more systematic atten-
tion should be paid in order to bring it in compliance with the CRC and
the UN Standards mentioned before.
The CRC Committee hopes that this publication and further activities of
the Juvenile Justice Panel will contribute to a substantial improvement in
the practice of juvenile justice in many States parties to the CRC. It is not
easy to run a juvenile justice system (law + practice) that is in full compli-
ance with the CRC. If you need technical/expert/or other support in that
regard, you should not hesitate to contact the Panel or one of its member
organisations.
Jaap E. Doek
Chairperson UN Committee
on the Rights of the Child
7
.
Protecting the Rights of Children in Conflict with the Law
Introduction
Overview of the Inter-Agency Coordination Panel
on Juvenile Justice
9
.
Protecting the Rights of Children in Conflict with the Law
Panel Objectives
Established by a 1997 Resolution of the Economic and Social Council,
the Inter-Agency Coordination Panel on Juvenile Justice, (formerly
known as the UN Coordination Panel on Technical Advice and
Assistance in Juvenile Justice or the UNCPJJ) aims to coordinate policies,
projects and activities among international organisations engaged with
national authorities in juvenile justice reform. The work of the Panel is
guided by the relevant provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the
Child, other relevant international standards related to juvenile justice,
and the recommendations of the UN Committee on the Rights of the
Child.1
1 International Standards include: the UN Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the
Convention against Torture, The United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the
Administration of Juvenile Justice, United Nations Guidelines For the Prevention of
Juvenile Delinquency, United Nations Rules for the Protection of Juveniles
Deprived of their Liberty, Vienna Guidelines for Action on Children in the Criminal
Justice System.
Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners and United Nations
Standard Minimum Rules for Non-custodial Measures.
11
Protecting the Rights of Children in Conflict with the Law
• The Panel now has a shared website, accessible to all staff of member
organisations.
Activity
Percentage of Countries
12
Protecting the Rights of Children in Conflict with the Law
Member Organisations
U N ITED N AT IONS O FF I C E ON D RUGS AND C R IME
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) implements an
integrated programme of drug control, drug demand reduction, crime pre-
vention, criminal justice reform and counter-terrorism in the context of
sustainable development and human security. The Office is responsible
for carrying out activities in international crime prevention and control by
strengthening regional and international cooperation in preventing and
combating trans-national crime. In particular, UNODC undertakes activi-
ties related to the prevention of organised crime, money laundering and
trafficking of women and children. It also promotes crime prevention
strategies, as well as effective and fair administration of justice, with due
respect for the rights of all those affected by crime or involved in the crim-
inal justice system.
The recent merger of the United Nations drug and crime programmes
within UNODC offers new opportunities in the field of juvenile justice,
such as integrated drug and crime prevention programmes, including
awareness-raising and peer education for young people, and specialised
programmes for preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS in closed institutions.
Based on lessons learned in Afghanistan, UNODC also is exploring
further possibilities to integrate juvenile justice reform projects into larger
criminal justice reform programmes for post-conflict countries. In cooper-
ation with other institutions, UNDOC is involved in the development of
guidelines on justice for child victims and witnesses of crime, and has
also compiled good practices, in particular in relation to urban crime and
youth at risk.
Contact:
Timothy Lemay
Chief, Rule of Law Section
Human Security Branch, Divisions for Operations
UN Office on Drugs and Crime,
P.O. Box 500, 1400 Vienna,
Austria
Website: www.unodc.org
14
Protecting the Rights of Children in Conflict with the Law
Contact:
Paulo David
Secretary, Committee on the Rights of the Child
Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
Palais des Nations, 1211 Geneva 10,
Switzerland
Website: www.ohchr.org
15
Protecting the Rights of Children in Conflict with the Law
UNICEF
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is mandated by the
United Nations General Assembly to advocate for the protection of chil-
dren’s rights. UNICEF is guided by the Convention on the Rights of the
Child and strives to establish children’s rights as enduring ethical princi-
ples and international standards of behaviour towards children. UNICEF
insists that the survival, protection and development of children are uni-
versal development imperatives that are integral to human progress.
Working in 158 countries and territories, UNICEF is committed to ensur-
ing special protection for the most disadvantaged children — victims of
war, disasters, extreme poverty, violence and exploitation, and children
with disabilities. UNICEF takes a preventative approach against the
abuse and exploitation of children by supporting governments to create a
protective environment for all children.
UNICEF believes that jails and detention should be a last resort for chil-
dren in conflict with the law. UNICEF’s work in juvenile justice focuses
on reducing recourse to deprivation of liberty, through the promotion of
non-custodial sanctions, restorative justice, and diversion. UNICEF aims
to create a protective environment for all children, which implies a sys-
temic, multi-level approach that includes securing government commit-
ment, building capacities, reforming laws, monitoring and reporting rights
violations, changing peoples’ attitudes, building children’s own skills,
and providing reintegration services.
16
Protecting the Rights of Children in Conflict with the Law
Contact:
Alexandra Yuster
Senior Advisor, Child Protection
UNICEF,
3 UN Plaza New York,
New York 10017, USA
Website: www.unicef.org
17
Protecting the Rights of Children in Conflict with the Law
Contact:
R. Sudarshan
Advisor-Justice
UNDP Oslo Governance Centre
Inkognitogt. 18, N-0256 Oslo, Norway
Website: www.undp.org
18
Protecting the Rights of Children in Conflict with the Law
• ensure that the rights of the child are given primacy in all respects, by
civil society and by all authorities, including the United Nations,
DCI has been involved in legal defence work relating to children ever
since its establishment in 1979. Since the adoption of the UN
Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989, DCI sections have
increasingly engaged in activities related to juvenile justice. At the inter-
national level, DCI has participated in the elaboration of international
standards concerning juvenile justice, and consistently pursues juvenile
justice reforms. Despite the existence of international standards, little
progress has been achieved with regard to the implementation of rights
of children in conflict with the law. For these reasons, DCI not only offers
assistance to children in conflict with the law, but also lobbies to include
the issue of juvenile justice on the international debating agenda.
19
Protecting the Rights of Children in Conflict with the Law
The primary intervention strategy of DCI both at the local and interna-
tional level is to provide information about the situation of children and
their rights. By sensitising families, communities and governments, DCI
intends to raise awareness about the reality faced by children and adoles-
cents in conflict with the law.
Contact:
Carlos Pampín García
DCI Juvenile Justice Programme
1 Rue de Varembé, P.O. Box 88
CH- 1211 Geneva 20,
Switzerland
Website: www.dci-is.org
20
Protecting the Rights of Children in Conflict with the Law
The OMCT defends children against torture and other forms of violence,
through urgent appeals on concrete cases of torture or other forms of vio-
lence and interventions on violations of children’s rights before interna-
tional and regional human rights mechanisms.
Most acts of torture of children are carried out while the children are in
police custody. OMCT’s approach is to sensitise the public about this sit-
uation, alert authorities, request their due intervention, and denounce
perpetrators in order to fight impunity and deter other potential torturers.
OMCT also argues that - in addition to its adverse effects for children in
terms of education, role models, psycho-social and physical well-being –
deprivation of liberty has the potential to increase all forms of violence.
Allegations of such cases are regularly reported and documented by
OMCT’s children’s rights programme and its partners. OMCT’s approach
is therefore to promote alternatives to imprisonment for children and
emphasise that deprivation of liberty should remain a last resort.
21
Protecting the Rights of Children in Conflict with the Law
OMCT also takes public stands, participates in research and training, and
documents specific situations, arguing that certain forms of corporal pun-
ishment applied to children, as well as certain conditions of detention,
are in contradiction with international law and amount to cruel, inhuman
and degrading treatment and punishment.
Contact:
Cécile Trochu
Child Rights Programme - OMCT
8, rue de Vieux Billard,
P.O. Box 21
1211 Geneva 8,
Switzerland
Website: www.omct.org
PRI works towards bringing criminal justice systems more into line
with international standards, promoting alternatives to custody, and
improving access to justice. PRI encourages and supports indigenous
initiatives in prison and penal reform and provides technical support
to NGOs and government agencies willing to undertake reforms of crimi-
nal justice in the context of their region and culture. PRI seeks to achieve
penal reforms, whilst recognising diverse cultural contexts, by promoting:
22
Protecting the Rights of Children in Conflict with the Law
PRI’s experience in the area of prison and penal reforms has underlined
the need for collaboration among actors working with criminal justice in
order to improve the system and make it more humane, fair and efficient.
PRI encourages dialogue and cooperation among the various actors
involved in the area of juvenile justice: the police, the prison administra-
tion, the court, the family, the offender, the victim, the social worker, the
communities and any other professional dealing with children in conflict
with the law.
Contact:
Paul English
Directeur exécutif
PRI
Unit 450
The Bon Marché Center
241-251 Ferndale Road
Brixton, London SW9 8BJ, United Kingdom
Website: www.penalreform.org
How Juvenile Justice fits within the mandate of Terre des hommes
24
Protecting the Rights of Children in Conflict with the Law
growing. National authorities often feel they can efficiently combat this
phenomenon by increasing the number of years of deprivation of liberty,
and by lowering the age of penal responsibility for minors. This is con-
trary to international norms on juvenile justice, which advocate for alter-
natives to detention wherever possible.
Terre des hommes initiated its juvenile justice work in 1996 by formulat-
ing an “NGO collection of information” in order to assess the legal and
practical situation of children deprived of liberty in some of its countries
of intervention (Lebanon, Mauritania, Guinea, Romania, Kosovo, Peru,
Burundi, Haiti, etc..).
Contact:
Bernard Boeton
Child Rights and Juvenile Justice
Terre des hommes
En Budron C 8,
1052 Le Mont-sur-Lausanne,
Switzerland
Website: www.tdh.ch
25
Protecting the Rights of Children in Conflict with the Law
S AVE TH E C H I LDR EN UK
Save the Children UK (SCUK) is a member of the International Save the
Children Alliance, the world’s leading independent children’s rights
organisation, with members in 29 countries and operational programmes
in more than 100 countries.
Save the Children works with children and their communities to provide
practical assistance and, by influencing policy and public opinion, bring
about positive change for children.
How Juvenile Justice fits within the mandate of Save the Children
Many of Save the Children’s programmes focus on “at risk” groups of
children who often come into conflict with the law, (and may be crimi-
nalised under local legal systems): notably street children, children flee-
ing abusive families, children that have dropped out of school, children
without parental care, migrant children, children involved in exploita-
tive/high risk labour, trafficked children and child soldiers among others.
Through the Child Protection programme SCUK work with these children
and their communities to develop pragmatic and sustainable interven-
tions and solutions that promote awareness of their rights, strengthen
protection mechanisms against abuse, neglect and exploitation and target
the risk factors that make them vulnerable in the first place. It works with
governments to develop laws and policies that adequately reflect the pro-
tection needs of these children through an integrated and holistic
approach to child protection that focuses on their support at the commu-
nity level.
26
Protecting the Rights of Children in Conflict with the Law
dealt with as offenders when they are victims of physical and sexual vio-
lence.
Contact:
Florence Martin
Child Rights and Protection Adviser
Save the Children UK
1 St. John’s Lane
London EC1M 4AR
Website: www.savethechildren.org.uk
27
Protecting the Rights of Children in Conflict with the Law
C ASA A LIAN ZA
Casa Alianza is an independent, non-profit organisation dedicated to the
defence of children in Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua and
Costa Rica. Casa Alianza is the Latin American branch of the New York-
based Covenant House. Founded in Guatemala in 1981, it expanded into
Honduras and Mexico in 1986, and into Nicaragua in 1998. Casa
Alianza offers its services to more than 9,000 children a year, most of
whom have been orphaned, abused or rejected by dysfunctional and
poverty-stricken families, and further traumatised by the indifference of
the societies in which they live.
28
Protecting the Rights of Children in Conflict with the Law
Contact:
• Arturo Echeverría J.
(national director Casa Alianza Guatemala),
13 Av. 0-37 Zone 2 Mixco
GUATEMALA
• Lic. Sofia Almazan
(national director Casa Alianza Mexico),
Paseo de la reforma
111, Colonia Guerrero, Mexico D.F. 06300 - Apartado 61-132,
06600Mexico D.F.
MEXICO
• José Manuel Capellín
(national director
Casa Alianza Honduras),
Apartado 2401, Tegucigalpa, M.D.C. HONDURAS
• Zelmira García
(national director
Casa Alianza Nicaragua),
Apartado 15, Managua, NICARAGUA
Website: www.casa-alianza.org
29
Protecting the Rights of Children in Conflict with the Law
30
Protecting the Rights of Children in Conflict with the Law
Table of Contents
Foreword .............................................................................................................................................................................. 7
Inroduction ......................................................................................................................................................................... 9
31
Protecting the Rights of Children in Conflict with the Law
32
1. Legal Support
33
.
Legal Support
Country: Cambodia
Background Information
The legal protection for children in conflict with the law is not sufficient
in Cambodia. Children in conflict with the law too often have their rights
to legal protection denied. This includes the right to have access to jus-
tice, to obtain redress, and to have legal assistance in the preparation of
their defence. The reasons for this gap in protection include the following:
a shortage of funds for legal aid lawyers, a lack of lawyers specialising in
children’s issues, low interest in handling such cases, and in some cir-
cumstances, judges not appointing lawyers as required by law.
UNICEF also provides training to the Child Protection Unit and facili-
tates networking and training with other relevant NGOs and government
agencies.
Legal Representation
The Child Protection Unit undertakes a number of activities in relation to
legal representation, including:
35
Protecting the Rights of Children in Conflict with the Law
• Liaising with NGOs (working with and/or for children), existing child
protection networks, prison authorities in Phnom Penh and Kandal
provinces, police, and Social Affairs authorities. This is necessary in
order to encourage these groups to refer children to the appropriate
social services (including psycho-social support when necessary),
ensure contact with their families, and collect information related to
juvenile detention. Social workers in particular might also be involved
in interviewing the child, visiting incarcerated children and introduc-
ing psycho-social information to the Court.
The Child Protection Unit also publishes a quarterly journal which aims
to disseminate court decisions related to children’s issues, with commen-
taries by lawyers and a list of articles related to children’s rights. The
journal ensures that the identity of the child is protected. The publication
is distributed free of charge to all courts, legal organisations, members of
the Bar Association, the Council of Jurists, concerned Ministries and
other relevant NGOs and groups involved with the protection of children
in conflict with the law.
Documentation Centre
Legal books and other reference documents relating to children’s rights,
juvenile justice and child victims have been collected and are deposited
with the Child Protection Unit. The documents are an important resource
for the Child Protection Team as well as for other lawyers and practition-
ers.
36
Legal Support
Achievements
• This project started with two lawyers providing legal representation in
seven provinces and now has nation-wide coverage (24 provinces).
Three well-trained lawyers and one judicial assistant with a speciali-
sation in child protection, including juvenile justice and issues relat-
ing to exploitation and abuse of children, run the project.
Necessary Conditions
• Sustainable source of funding
Source Document:
Justice for Children: Detention as a Last Resort, Innovative Practices in the East
Asia and Pacific Region, UNICEF East Asia and Pacific Region, 2003
37
Protecting the Rights of Children in Conflict with the Law
Background Information
The Paralegal Service supports both adult and child prisoners, in prison,
in courts and at police stations. However the police station activities
focus exclusively on children in conflict with the law. All components are
described below.
In prison, the paralegals conduct daily legal aid clinics using theatre tech-
niques to maximise the participation of prisoners (as many as 200 attend
a clinic). The paralegals assist prisoners to complete standard bail forms
or appeals forms. The paralegals then lodge the bail requests and appeals
with the court.
In courts, the paralegals visit the prisoners in the holding cells and assist
witnesses, the accused and members of the public.
38
Legal Support
Achievements
Paralegals are able to offer assistance at the critical stage of the criminal
justice process, namely during police interviews where, in many coun-
tries, most abuses occur. The practice promotes diversion of children
from the criminal justice system at a very early stage. The service also
encourages criminal justice actors to work together to move cases
through the system more speedily and in a low cost way and supports the
development of partnerships with civil society.
For both children and adults, the Paralegal Advisory Service has:
39
Protecting the Rights of Children in Conflict with the Law
Necessary Conditions
Collaboration among all the actors involved with children in conflict with
the law, including with the police,
Source Document:
Index of Good Practices in Reducing Pre-trial Detention [PRI], Paralegal Advisory
Service Brochure and Training Manual
40
Legal Support
Background Information
To support gaps in legal and social protection for children in conflict with
the law, Terre des hommes appoints and trains independent lawyers and
social workers. These lawyers and social workers are contacted upon the
arrest of the child and support police officers in filing social reports, find-
ing the child’s parents, preventing pre-trial detention and advocating for
alternative sanctions where possible.
The role of the lawyer begins from the moment the child is taken to the
police station. Even if the offence in question is low grade and the likely
outcome is an informal settlement or a simple fine, the presence of a
lawyer is crucial to ensure that the sanction is something that is within
the ability of the child or his/her family to pay. Otherwise, fines that are
41
Protecting the Rights of Children in Conflict with the Law
too high can make it possible to justify police custody or pre-trial deten-
tion instead of the non-custodial options. The social worker can assume
this role, on condition that he or she can rapidly consult the lawyer if
necessary, particularly at the moment when a decision is made to prolong
police detention.
As part of its approach, Terre des hommes supports the training and
appointment of younger lawyers at the start of their career. Experiences
in several countries show that lawyers just starting out gain a sense of
pride specialising in children’s issues.
Achievements
• Due to Terre des hommes’ efforts, approximately of children who are
supported by lawyers and/or social workers are not deprived of their
liberty.
Necessary Conditions
• Neutral reputation: Much of TDH’s work is facilitated by the fact that
it is well known and trusted by both governmental and non-govern-
mental partners.
Source Document:
Terre des hommes: Legal and Social/Educational Programs for Minors in Conflict
with the Law Workshop to Provide an Overview of Best Practices Lyon (France) 29
April 2001 - 4 May 2001
42
2. Alternative Sanctions
43
.
Alternative Sanctions
Implementing Organisations:
- Free Legal Assistance Volunteers Association (FREELAVA)
- Save the Children UK
Background Information
Research in the Philippines has shown that children in conflict with the
law experience particularly high levels of abuse at the time of arrest and
in police custody. The conditions in detention facilities are generally bad
and children are often detained with adults. There is almost no practical
experience of crime prevention programmes or diversion in the formal
system, and little support to help children returning to their communities
to become socially reintegrated after detention.
What is done?
2 The initiative has other facets, including research, capacity building of the pillars of
justice and communities and to change local policies based on the project’s experi-
ence. SC UK understands the pillars of justice as Community, Law enforcement,
prosecution, the Courts and Correction.
45
Protecting the Rights of Children in Conflict with the Law
The project’s diversion scheme is for less serious offences, which make
up the great majority of cases of children currently arrested and taken
into police custody. In addition, research in Cebu indicates that 94% of
children arrested by the police between 1999 and 2001 were first-time
offenders. The project does not view diversion as appropriate for cases of
murder, extreme violence, rape, high levels of recidivism or major drugs
trafficking. However, the project’s reintegration after custody scheme
might assist such offenders.
The peer educators are chosen because they have adopted a positive life-
style and attitude since their release, often with the assistance of a com-
munity volunteer. The peer educators receive sensitisation on the
Convention on the Rights of the Child, leadership and the importance of
respecting others. Under the guidance of the project staff and the commu-
nity volunteers, their role is to support children who have come to the
CJC. This frequently means that they participate with these children in
sporting and cultural activities. Many of the peer educators have returned
to school with the financial assistance of FREELAVA. As yet, there are no
46
Alternative Sanctions
girl peer educators; girls make up about 3 per 100 offenders and, unlike
boys, are usually assisted by the social welfare department because of
their perceived vulnerability.
Achievements
• The local authority leader in one barangay reported that 1000 chil-
dren had been diverted from the formal justice system in the two
years since the project started.
• There are about 120 trained Community Volunteers attached to the
project and working with the CJCs in the 12 barangays. The 10
community volunteers in Ermita barangay are working with about
200 children in conflict with the law. The success of the project in
that barangay has meant there is an urgent need for more volun-
teers.
• The fact that quite a number of Community Volunteers were elected
onto CJCs in last year’s elections shows that their work is appreciated.
• There are about 100 peer educators. They say that their relationship
with the community volunteers has changed their perception of them-
selves; they now see themselves as having value. They enjoy helping
other children by relating their own experiences and bringing them
into their activities. The project has both reintegrated peer educators
socially and assisted them to play a positive role in the lives of child
offenders.
• The police seem to have a positive attitude towards the peer educa-
tors.
• The detention cells in the barangay centres are no longer used for
children. Instead, if necessary, children are kept in unlocked rooms. If
apprehended, children are not usually kept overnight.
• The local police now have a sound knowledge of Child Rights, and
they do not handcuff children, but rather explain why they are
apprehending them and taking them to the CJC instead of the police
station.
47
Protecting the Rights of Children in Conflict with the Law
Necessary Conditions
• Good relationships kept with Barangay Captains and Councillors,
and Municipal mayors. This will also assist the CJC structure to be
adopted through local ordinances.
• Continuity: Elections can produce a major change in personnel in the
local government structures, so ways are needed to bring continuity to
the CJC membership.
• Commitment: from CJC members and many NGOs if the concept of
community volunteers and peer educators is to be replicable.
• Monitoring and Evaluation: Quantitative and qualitative evaluations
of various aspects of the project are awaited, i.e. numbers of children
seen by CJCs, agreements made, support given; the work of communi-
ty volunteers and peer educators and their opinions about it; how the
process of mediation is conducted and regarded by those involved;
links with social work, local government and NGO bodies.
• Follow-up Support: on cases of children who have gone through the
CJC to identify the longer-term impact on them in relation to their suc-
cessful reintegration in society.
Source Document:
Breaking Rules: Children in Conflict with the Law and the Juvenile Justice Process.
The Experience in the Philippines, Save the Children UK, 2004
48
Alternative Sanctions
Collaborating Organisations:
UNODC and partners
Country: Senegal
Background Information
The outskirts of Dakar, to which the poorest sectors of the population are
relegated, have become areas of marginalisation, violence and danger.
The deprivation of population groups living in these dilapidated and
underprivileged districts is not only an economic but also a social prob-
lem. People in these areas feel they have no right to expect the same level
of health care, education, welfare or safety as other sectors of the popula-
tion that enjoy such services. This leads to an erosion of the sense of
belonging to the community, a feeling reinforced by the absence of public
services provided by the State in these neighbourhoods. It is largely this
sense of exclusion from the community that is conducive to violence and
delinquency.
49
Protecting the Rights of Children in Conflict with the Law
50
Alternative Sanctions
Training has been provided for personnel working at or in liaison with the
judicial centres in order to prepare them for their new functions. Training
courses include modules on urban crime prevention policy and initia-
tives, victim assistance (advisory and support services) and penal media-
tion and conciliation techniques.
The Senegalese State and the Dakar City Council are supporting this ini-
tiative in both institutional and financial terms. A framework agreement
of constitution for the judicial centre was drawn up in order to determine
the costs payable by each party involved and the arrangements to be
made for the funding of the operations.
Achievements
• Access to Justice: Penal mediation and conciliation make up an alter-
native approach, in penal cases, to judicial proceedings. These forms
of restorative justice are more likely to inculcate in the offender a
sense of responsibility, to fulfil the expectations of the victim and thus
to defuse tensions in the community.
51
Protecting the Rights of Children in Conflict with the Law
Necessary Conditions
• Cooperation of local population: For sustainable outcomes to take
place, strong foundations for local institutions are required and those
can be built only with the cooperation of local people. Local people
must feel that the elements of justice belong to them.
Source Document:
Project document UNODC - FS/SEN/02/R36 “Crime Prevention in the Dakar
region”
52
Alternative Sanctions
Collaborating Organisations:
- Defence for Children International- Uganda
- Legal Aid Clinic
- Save the Children
- District Local Governments
Country: Uganda
Background Information
What is done?
Specific Capacity building and support for the Local Council Committees
has been:
• Training on roles and jurisdiction in handling child-related cases
53
Protecting the Rights of Children in Conflict with the Law
Further training on mediation and restorative justice was done for select-
ed Local Councils in Kampala district. Save the Children also conducts
capacity-building activities with the Local Councils to support their abili-
ty to serve as courts of first instance.
Fit persons have been selected and trained from the local councils to fol-
low up children in conflict with the law and ensure they are reintegrated
and rehabilitated.
Achievements
• Increase in Diverted Cases: Where Local Council capacities have
been strengthened, they effectively handle child-related cases and
only refer more intricate cases to Police and Probation Social Welfare
Offices. As a result, many child-related cases have been diverted from
the formal justice system.
• Use and Public Acceptance of Non-custodial Sanctions: The Local
Councils have been able to use alternative punishments like
3 The Local Councils are also involved with activities such as making by-laws in the
communities, general welfare and development, conflict resolution like land dis-
putes, protecting the Constitution, and promoting democratic leadership and gover-
nance.
54
Alternative Sanctions
Necessary Conditions
• Community sensitisation: DCI conducts broad-based sensitisation to
promote the rights of children. They run a Live-Call-in Radio pro-
gramme on the National Radio Station. The programme provides chil-
dren with a platform to discuss issues concerning them. It is also used
to sensitise the public on children’s rights and responsibilities and
provides information on relevant legislation. The target audience
includes Local Councils, parents, local leaders, and other stakehold-
ers.
Source Documents:
Report on a Strategy Development and Training Seminar on the administration of
Juvenile Justice in Uganda, DCI Uganda, October 2000; Juvenile Justice in
Uganda: A Situation Analysis UNICEF/Save the Children UK, September 2000; .
An Evaluation of the Juvenile Justice Programme in 4 pilot districts of Kampala,
Gulu, Hoima and Masaka, Save the Children UK, 2003; Evaluation Report on the
Programme of Strengthening the Capacity of Local Council Committees to handle
child related cases in Kampala District. Legal Aid Clinic, December 2003; Report
on the Evaluation of Restorative Justice Program in Kampala District, Legal Aid
Clinic, April 2004; Children’s Act; NGO Complementary Report on the
Implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in Uganda,
Uganda Child Rights NGO Network, December 2002
55
Protecting the Rights of Children in Conflict with the Law
Collaborating Organisations:
- Lao PDR Ministry of Justice
- Save the Children UK
Background Information
In Lao PDR, villages have long had Village Mediation Units to resolve
adult civil and some criminal disputes. Their role was defined legally by a
Directive of the Ministry of Justice in 1997. As part of the Children’s
Justice Project4, Save the Children UK and the Lao Ministry of Justice
conducted research in 2002 to investigate how the Village Mediation
Units could be adapted to resolve issues concerning children’s conflict
with the law. The research explored the feasibility of establishing
Children’s Mediation Units which would be linked to the established
structures of the Village Mediation Units.
Mediation will not take place if children do not admit the offence. If the
offence is too serious (murder, rape, extreme violence) it will be referred
to the police. If no settlement can be reached it is up to the person refer-
ring the child to decide what to do.
Apart from the Central Management Team, these bodies are made up of a
cross–section of senior members of the criminal justice system, e.g. the
judiciary, police, prosecutors’ office, the mass organisations of the Lao
Women’s Union and the Lao Youth Union and other relevant ministries.
To ensure sustainability, other relevant government ministries are also
involved in the activities of the Central Management Team.
Achievements
• Data on children diverted from the police and court, and those sent to
court were collated by a central management team of Ministry of
Justice officials for the first time in 2004. The data cover the 8
provinces included in the Children’s Justice Project.
• Of the total number of children coming to the attention of the chil-
dren’s mediators, police, prosecutors’ office and courts in the 8
provinces, 96.4% and 95% were diverted in 2002 and 2003 respec-
tively. (UNICEF estimates only 2% are serious offenders.) Diversion
was accomplished by way of mediation agreements and warnings,
57
Protecting the Rights of Children in Conflict with the Law
Necessary Conditions
• Monitoring & Evaluation: M & E has been primarily about imple-
mentation and recording to ensure that the children’s justice princi-
ples laid down are closely adhered to, necessary adjustments made
and shortcomings put right quickly. There is, as yet, no regular feed-
back from children and no monitoring of re-offending. Initiatives in
monitoring at the provincial and district levels require regular finan-
cial disbursements to the provinces.
• Follow up with children: Who have participated in mediations at
the community mediation units.
Source Document:
Final Evaluation of the Ministry of Justice SCUK Supported Children’s Justice
Project in Lao PDR Funded by the British Government from April 2002-April 2004,
compiled by John Parry-Williams
4 The Children’s Justice Project began in September 200 as a pilot in 4 of Lao PDR’s
18 provinces. After evaluation, a 2 year project was signed between the Ministry of
Justice and the Save the Children UK with the aim to extend a further two years. By
March 2004, 8 provinces were included. The approach to build institutional capaci-
ty and reform the justice system by training and developing practices in line with
international standards. These practices will become sufficiently entrenched within
all departments of the criminal justice system and the goal is for them to be adopted
within a children’s justice statute.
58
Alternative Sanctions
Collaborating Organisations:
UNICEF and partners
Country: Malawi
Background Information
Malawi currently does not have a specialised system for children in con-
flict with the law. There are no governmental legal aid services and there
is a dearth of social workers. However, communities in Malawi have a
history of caring collectively for children. Community based programmes,
such as the Community Crime Prevention Committees, are a return to
traditional ways of handling children’s issues.
What is done?
59
Protecting the Rights of Children in Conflict with the Law
Whenever a child from the community comes in conflict with the law, the
Community Crime Prevention Committee tries to solve the matter within
the community itself without resorting to police or prison officials.
The committees aim to prevent and divert children in conflict with the
law from the court system. Sometimes parents and teachers go to the
crime prevention committee to discuss issues related to “unruly” chil-
dren: children who do not want to go to school, children who damage
school property etc. The committees then act as counsellors.
Achievements
Most petty crimes are now addressed within the community without
police and judiciary involvement. There has been a noticeable decrease
in court caseloads, children’s conflict with the law and recidivism. Last
available data show that 90% of children in custody – at prisons and
reformatory schools - come from areas outside the districts where crime
prevention committees and sensitisation activities have been implement-
ed.
Necessary Conditions
• Support from the government: While a separate system for chil-
dren in conflict with the law is not a pre-requisite for this practice, it is
necessary that the law allows for diversion at the community level.
60
Alternative Sanctions
Source Document:
Correspondence with UNICEF staff in Malawi
61
Protecting the Rights of Children in Conflict with the Law
Collaborating Organisations:
- The Dutch Government
- HALT The Netherlands
- DCI The Netherlands does not directly implement the
programme, but provides information and lobbies for HALT
procedures.
Background Information
The Dutch criminal code and the code of criminal procedure contain spe-
cial provisions which establish that sanctions for children in conflict with
the law must be designed for rehabilitation.
DCI The Netherlands lobbies for and gives institutional support to alter-
natives to the deprivation of the liberty of children. This is done by
sending out press releases, as well as organising expert seminars and
meetings with politicians. One of the initiatives DCI supports is the HALT
procedure.
62
Alternative Sanctions
The child in conflict with the law is given the choice of having the
charges dropped in exchange for his or her participation in a HALT
project. A written offer is made to the child with the reminder that he or
she is not forced to participate in the scheme. If the child is below 16, the
parents must give their consent. If the child agrees to the offer, the police
draw up a protocol and send it to a HALT bureau.
After the measures have been carried out, the police conduct a review
with the HALT team and decide whether the charges should be dropped.
If the outcome of the HALT measure is positive, the police inform both
the juvenile and the state prosecutor’s office in writing. By doing so,
further criminal proceedings are dropped unless the injured party has
made a successful complaint to the courthouse. If the results of the
HALT project are negative, a file for the instigation of preliminary pro-
ceedings is opened and passed on to the state prosecutor. Certain state
prosecution service officials are mandated to deal with the police in
HALT matters.
63
Protecting the Rights of Children in Conflict with the Law
Achievements
By promoting the HALT procedures, DCI Netherlands contributes to
efforts to strengthen alternative programmes for child offenders. HALT is
considered a successful project. Of the approximately 50,000 children
that are arrested by the police, about 20,000 go to one of the 62 HALT
bureaus. In particular, the HALT measures contribute to:
Necessary Conditions
• A society open to alternative measures, including restorative justice
and mediation,
• The guarantee of rights of the child and the basic rules for a fair trial.
Source Document:
Annemieke Wolthuis, Moving Forward – Restorative Aspects in the Dutch Juvenile
Justice System, DCI – The Netherlands, 2001
64
Alternative Sanctions
Collaborating Organisations:
- Nasli Navras (a Tajik NGO)
- Save the Children UK
Country: Tajikistan
Background Information
65
Protecting the Rights of Children in Conflict with the Law
contact with the police. The younger children are often in danger of vio-
lence, especially gang rapes by older children as punishment, usually for
failing to collect sufficient amounts of money. The younger children are
in need of shelter at night for protection.
What is Done?
The Drop-In Centre also does prevention work in five nearby pilot
schools near to the Centre. There are Children’s Clubs in the five schools
each composed of about 30-40 children. They take a role in the gover-
nance of the school and a number have been trained as peer counsellors,
one their tasks being to help integrate drop-out children back in school.
66
Alternative Sanctions
Having a social worker would facilitate the diversion of cases from the
police, the Commission of Minors, and the courts.
Nasli Navras also wishes to extend the role of the Drop-In Centre by
offering Drop-In Centre supervision as a way to divert children from
being sent to police cells, pre-trial detention and institutions by the police
and the Commission on Minors, and later for first offenders appearing
before the court.
Achievements
• Nasli Navras’ child protection work and its support from within the
community may account for the reduction in the number of children
coming to the attention of the police in Frunze (the largest district of
the capital). In 2002, there were 350 cases that came to their atten-
tion and in 2003 there were 195. While this reduction was happening
in Frunze, these figures are said to be rising in the other three
Dushanbe districts.
• Last year the Commission on Minors sent six children and the police
sent about 35 children to the Nasli Navras Drop-In Centre instead of
sending them to the temporary Isolation Unit. Also last year, 90 chil-
dren were released from detention in a general amnesty and of the 84
Nasli Navras received, none of the children re-offended while with
them.
• There are 300 children on the Drop-In Centre register. Of these about
60 come daily. 210 are street and working children (70%); 12 are chil-
dren released from detention; the rest are from poor families. In the
years 2001-03, children were assisted in the following ways: 372 com-
pleted various courses, 24 children obtained jobs, 40 obtained their
driving licence, or other necessary official documents. Recently, a few
street children were reintegrated with their parents but most refused
to take them but did offer their children gifts. It is hoped that by keep-
ing up regular contact with parents the number accepted back will
increase.
• The staff at the five participating pilot schools see their prevention
work as leading to more self-esteem and confidence among the chil-
dren. There has also been some successful resolution of problems
between teachers and pupils.
67
Protecting the Rights of Children in Conflict with the Law
Necessary Conditions
• Good understanding and liaison between Nasli Navras and the
Commission on Minors and all the departments in the criminal justice
system as to the Drop-In Centre’s objectives, role and limitations in
terms of child protection and conflict with the law.
Source Documents:
SCUK Tajikistan Report, Nikhil Roy, March, 2002, Children who are in Conflict
with the Law: Report of the Expert Group, 2003, Report on Suggested Strategy for
SCUK in Tajikistan for Children’s Justice, John Parry-Williams, March, 2004
68
3. Capacit y Building and Training
69
.
Capacity Building and Training
Collaborating Organisations:
- OHCHR
- UNICEF
Country: Philippines
Background Information
71
Protecting the Rights of Children in Conflict with the Law
The Public Attorney’s Office has also issued new Standard Office
Procedures in Extending Legal Assistance to Juveniles in Conflict with the
Law. They have been printed in booklet form and distributed throughout
the country.
The Parole and Probations Office developed draft new Rules and
Procedures for Children in Conflict with the Law Placed Under Probation.
The rules are in the process of being finalised and approved.
Achievements
The new Supreme Court Rules demonstrate the power that agency guide-
lines can have in improving professional responses to children in conflict
with the law, even absent comprehensive legislative reform.
The Rules reference the Convention on the Rights of the Child and
UN standards on juvenile justice, and have significantly altered criminal
proceedings involving children, ensuring respect for their due process
rights and making the process much more child-sensitive. Using the
Court’s power to settle certain cases, the Rules introduce pre-arraignment
referral to a diversion committee, allowing children charged with minor
offences to be processed outside the formal court system as required by
the CRC.
Necessary Conditions
• Guidelines for professionals involved with juvenile justice reform
should contain attainable standards such that professionals and
front-line staff do not perceive them as unrealistic.
72
Capacity Building and Training
Source Document:
“Protecting the Rights of Children in Conflict with the Law Project Evaluation”,
OHCHR
73
Protecting the Rights of Children in Conflict with the Law
Collaborating Organisations:
- Penal Reform International
- Arab institute For Human Rights
- UNICEF Regional and national offices and the OHCHR
Beirut Regional office
At the national level, the main partners are national NGOs
involved in juvenile justice, UNICEF country offices, prison
administration, the Ministry of Justice or the Ministry of
Interior, and other Ministries involved in the criminal
justice system, such as the Ministry of Social Development.
Background Information
In February 2002, PRI, the Arab Institute for Human Rights and the
Jordanian Royal Commission for Human Rights organised a regional con-
ference on Perspectives of Penal and Prison Reform in the Arab Region, in
Amman, Jordan. The conference participants included representatives of
prisons, ministries of Justice and Interior, independent experts and
NGO’s from Jordan, Morocco, Algeria and Palestine.
74
Capacity Building and Training
The following components are part of the effort to foster the development
of a regional pool of expertise in the Arab region:
Achievements
• Exchange of experience, good practices, diversionary programmes
and experience of non custodial measures, tools and information on
legal reforms in both countries;
75
Protecting the Rights of Children in Conflict with the Law
Necessary Conditions
• The willingness of governments and civil society to engage on this
issue,
Source Documents:
Nour, Training Manual on the Protection of Children in Conflict with the Law in
Jordan (Arabic version); PRI, Human Rights and Vulnerable Prisoners, Training
Manual (Arabic version); www.Nour-atfal.org.
76
Capacity Building and Training
Collaborating Organisation:
Terre des hommes
Background Information
What is done?
The participation of hierarchical superiors is essential in the first stage of
training in order to secure support for the implementation of alternative
measures on the ground. Once this commitment is in place, training
courses are aimed at officials from various sectors who are in direct con-
tact with children in conflict with the law and who must find - and often
improvise - solutions.
77
Protecting the Rights of Children in Conflict with the Law
Achievements
By creating opportunities to interact at training events:
• Judges gain a better understanding of the constraints under which
prison staff operate (for example, by going to the prisons where they
send minors).
• Police officers understand the potential for lawyers and social workers
to help police when a child comes into contact with the law. In cer-
tain programmes, it is the police station officers who after their first
contact with the child take the initiative to contact the Terre des
hommes team.
• Police officers have been able to voice their opinions in front of
judges, something which, in some countries, rarely or never arises
outside of the inter-sectoral training.
• Prosecutors have made the acquaintance of social workers working in
their respective jurisdictions.
• There is an opportunity for juvenile justice professionals to learn
about emerging changes in the legal framework, such as new defini-
tions of misdemeanours, felonies and the penalties which result, and
the duration of custodial sentences.
Necessary Conditions
• Participant Balance: The representation of the various professions
concerned must be balanced, as must the proportion of high-ranking
representatives and officials working on the ground.
Source Document:
Terre des hommes: Legal and Social/Educational Programs for Minors in Conflict
with the Law Workshop to Provide an Overview of Best Practices Lyon (France) 29
April 2001 - 4 May 2001
78
Capacity Building and Training
Collaborating Organisation:
Terre des hommes
What is done?
Prison visits are sometimes the only opportunity to meet the young peo-
ple who are the subject of all the training, which allows them to observe
how they are seen by magistrates and other practitioners. Moreover, the
latter have the opportunity to engage in dialogue with the juveniles with-
out having a role of immediate authority.
Achievements
• Experience shows that considerable and inexpensive improvements
have been possible in prison conditions for minors, if the people who
oversee these visits are the same people who taught the training
courses.
Necessary Conditions
• In such a sensitive area, the approach of co-operating with and train-
ing government officials is essential: in some cases, the media have
79
Protecting the Rights of Children in Conflict with the Law
Source Document:
Terre des hommes: Legal and Social/Educational Programs for Minors in Conflict
with the Law Workshop to Provide an Overview of Best Practices Lyon (France) 29
April 2001 - 4 May 2001 [pp 22-24]
80
4. Public Awareness and Advocacy
81
.
Public Awareness and Advocacy
Collaborating Organisations:
- OHCHR
- UNICEF
- PAYO (Philippine Action for Youth Offenders)
Country: Philippines
Background Information
In order to support the draft bill’s proposed increase in the age of crimi-
nal responsibility, the Philippine Action for Youth Offenders (PAYO) con-
ducted a Study on Age of Discernment of Out-of-School Children.
Researchers interviewed 300 out-of-school children between the ages of
7 and 18, most of whom were street children. The study, which followed
up on a similar study conducted with school children, concluded that
out-of-school youth have a slower ability to discern and make positive
choices in life and were generally at a very low level of discernment. At
the age of 18, the out-of-school children tested were at a level of discern-
ment comparable to a seven year old.
Achievements
The study has proven to be a useful advocacy tool to support the
proposition that nine-year-olds lack the necessary level of discernment.
It emphasises the need for judges to determine discernment on a case-
83
Protecting the Rights of Children in Conflict with the Law
by-case basis, taking into account the child’s individual level of develop-
ment. The study also provides useful insight into the impact that living in
the “real world” of the streets has on children’s development. It highlights
the need for interventions to support psycho-social health of out-of-
school children, and includes general recommendations that will provide
helpful guidance in the development of crime prevention and juvenile
rehabilitation programmes.
Necessary Conditions
• Identity protection for children involved in the study,
Source Document:
“Protecting the Rights of Children in Conflict with the Law Project Evaluation”,
OHCHR
84
Public Awareness and Advocacy
Collaborating Organisations:
- PRI, Moscow and Paris offices
- Sretenie in Ardatov, Russia
- ACER-Russie in Paris, France
Country: Russia
Background Information
85
Protecting the Rights of Children in Conflict with the Law
solidarity that exist among these children, despite difficult and often dra-
matic situations they face.
The names of the children are not mentioned, and the pictures have not
been published in Russia. The photographer explained to them that the
objective is not to present them as offenders, but on the contrary to show
that they are children for whom rehabilitation is possible.
This work has received the 2003 Kodak France Award (27ème Prix Kodak
de la Critique photographique 2003), and was largely covered by the
media. It has generated many meetings, exchanges and forum discus-
sions on the situation of children in institutions, and in particular on chil-
dren deprived of the liberty.
Achievements
The photo project has contributed to:
Necessary Conditions
• Cooperation of governmental institutions and local NGOs,
• Agreement and collaboration of the children and staff of the relevant
institution,
• Interest of the media on the issue,
• Identity protection for the children involved with the project.
Source Documents:
Photos of the project, media coverage
86
Public Awareness and Advocacy
Collaborating Organisation:
UNICEF
Country: Panama
Background Information
87
Protecting the Rights of Children in Conflict with the Law
Achievements
The efforts with the media and partnerships between UNICEF and other
actors in Panama’s society succeeded in substantially limiting the num-
ber and the severity of the regressive reforms.
Necessary Conditions
Partnership with media-related academic and professional institutions
Source Document:
Juvenile Justice Systems: Good Practices in Latin America, UNICEF, p. 45.
88
5. Monitoring and Reporting
89
.
Monitoring and Reporting
Collaborating Organisations:
UNODC and national partners
Background Information
(a) Lebanon
A computerised data system was established within the Department for
Minors in the Lebanese Ministry of Justice to collect the following infor-
mation on juveniles in conflict with the law:
91
Protecting the Rights of Children in Conflict with the Law
92
Monitoring and Reporting
(b) Egypt
93
Protecting the Rights of Children in Conflict with the Law
Achievements
The data system has contributed considerably to the work of the coordi-
nating ministerial body, acting as a focal point for juvenile justice mat-
ters. Emphasis has now been given to social protection measures
for young people in difficult circumstances before they slide into delin-
quency.
94
Monitoring and Reporting
Necessary Conditions
• Computer technology: Funding, the effective inter-connection of dif-
ferent computerised systems, the development of appropriate user-
friendly systems, specialised data entry personnel and appropriate
training are essential for this practice to be successful.
Source Documents:
Juvenile Justice Initiative in Lebanon, Alexandre Schmidt and Ralph Riachy,
Strengthening Legislative and Institutional Capacities of Juvenile Justice in Egypt,
UNODC, Additional information provided by Zarir Merat, Renee Sabbagh
(UNODC Field Office - Beirut/Lebanon) and Leif Villadsen, Myrna Bouhabib
(UNODC Field Office - Cairo/Egypt)
95
Protecting the Rights of Children in Conflict with the Law
Collaborating Organisations:
UNODC and national partners
Background Information
There was no real system in place for files prepared by social workers,
police, magistrates and detention centres. Information was duplicated
and dossiers were written in formats that were incompatible with each
other.
96
Monitoring and Reporting
Achievements
This good practice, in combination with other interventions, has resulted
in a reduction of the average length of the judicial procedure and in a
reduction of the average period juveniles are deprived of their liberty in
pre-trial and correctional detention. The practice brings the system in line
with the Convention on the Rights of the Child and international stan-
dards, and more particularly with the norm that recourse to deprivation
of liberty should only be used as a measure of last resort and for the
shortest period possible.
Year
Necessary Conditions
• The printing and availability of user-friendly, compatible forms.
• Training and appropriate familiarisation with the revised dossier for-
mat.
• Regular record of data.
Source Documents:
Juvenile Justice Initiative in Lebanon, Alexandre Schmidt and Ralph Riachy,
UNODC, Additional information provided by Zarir Merat, Renee Sabbagh
(UNODC Field Office - Beirut/Lebanon)
97
Protecting the Rights of Children in Conflict with the Law
Collaborating Organisations:
- World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)
- Association for Human Rights Legal Aid (AHRLA)
Country: Egypt
Background Information
In January 2001, Egypt came before the Committee on the Rights of the
Child. On the basis of information received from its members in the field
and of its own analysis of Egypt’s legislation, OMCT submitted an alter-
native report to the committee and made some specific recommendation
concerning :
• the need to develop and implement legal and practical measures for
the protection and reparation for children who are victims, or at risk,
of torture at the hands of law enforcement officials,
98
Monitoring and Reporting
The CRC recommended that the State party fully review and reform its
juvenile justice system to bring it into conformity with international law.
In July 2003, OMCT was contacted by the Association for Human Rights
Legal Aid in Egypt. This NGO, actively engaged in juvenile justice advo-
cacy and monitoring in the field, found that the report was a powerful
tool for its work at the national level and proposed to translate it into
Arabic. This fuelled its work on:
Achievements
• Mutual reinforcement of advocacy and monitoring work between
national and international levels
• Capacity-building
99
Protecting the Rights of Children in Conflict with the Law
Necessary Conditions
• Information-sharing
• Long-term involvement
Source Documents:
www.omct.org, www.ahrla.org, www.omct.org/base.cfm?cfid=993507&cfto-
ken=5923063&page=children&consol=open
100
Monitoring and Reporting
Collaborating Organisations:
- Casa Alianza UK
- CEJIL (Centre for Justice and International Law)
- CIPRODE (Centre for Investigation and Promotion of
Human Rights in Honduras)
- Save the Children
- CODEH (Committee for the Defence of Human Rights in
Honduras)
- COINPRODEH (Coordinator of Institutions for the Rights of
the Child)
Country: Honduras
Background Information
In 1990, the Congress approved the Children’s Code in order to apply the
UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. In 1996, however, in response
to high levels of violence blamed on youth, the Supreme Court imple-
mented a ruling that allowed judges to send underage detainees to jails
with adults. This plan was known as an “Autoacordado” and violated the
Constitution of the Republic of Honduras, which, in article 122, prohibits
the detention of children in jails designed for adults. Although the
Supreme Court’s ruling stated that children should be kept separate from
adult prisoners, the cramped and overcrowded conditions in the coun-
try’s dilapidated jails made the separation impossible.
Casa Alianza, with the aid of the organisations listed above, started a
nation-wide investigation into every single Honduran jail as a first step to
document the violations of the human rights of detained children. The
investigation revealed that over 800 boys were detained in jails with
adults.
Casa Alianza’s Legal Aid programme then presented 300 writs of Habeas
Corpus for the children to be released or sent to juvenile detention
101
Protecting the Rights of Children in Conflict with the Law
Casa Alianza and CEJIL presented the case of the illegal detention of chil-
dren with adults to the Inter American Commission on Human Rights
(part of the Organisation of American States), exposing the situation and
asking for an urgent call the State of Honduras to stop sending children
to adult jails.
Achievements
• Investigating and monitoring the human rights of detained children
proved to be an effective protection tool.
• There was legal reform that reinforced the Constitution of the country
in the matter of detained minors. The State finally abandoned the
“Autoacordado” and paid the reparations to the minors, but not one
judge was convicted for violating the Constitution.
• Since the report of the Commission, not one judge has sent a minor to
an adult jail.
102
Monitoring and Reporting
• The results of the effort have set an important precedent (so far as
NGOs using local and international law to protect children’s rights)
and still bring attention to Casa Alianza.
• Other Casa Alianza offices in Central America have imitated the ini-
tiative, resulting in a similar investigation in Nicaragua.
Necessary Conditions
• The NGO must be willing to take a firm stand, despite threats made
by the government.
Source Documents:
Honduras: The illegal detention of minors, Casa Alianza’s legal review
http://www.casa-alianza.org/EN/human-rights/violations/docs/honjail2.phtml;
Children jailed with adult prisoners in Honduran jails http://www.casa-
alianza.org/EN/human-rights/violations/docs/honjail.phtml;Fire Claims The Lives
of 102 Honduran Youth in Jail
http://www.casa-alianza.org/EN/noticias/lmn/noticia902;International concern
starts to bear fruit in Honduras http://www.casa-alianza.org/EN/noticias/lmn/
noticia68; Casa Alianza Honduras objects to five Supreme Court candi-
dateshttp://www.casa-alianza.org/EN/noticias/lmn/noticia199.
103
Protecting the Rights of Children in Conflict with the Law
Collaborating Organisations:
- OMCT
- PREDA (People’s Recovery, Empowerment and
Development Assistance Foundation, inc.)
Country: Philippines
Background Information
In all these activities, the protection of children from torture and other ill-
treatment is fully integrated. To produce reports for the Human Rights
Committee and the Committee Against Torture, a drafting committee is
composed of a general human rights NGO, a women’s rights NGO and a
children’s rights NGO, and its representatives are invited to Geneva to
brief the Committees and attend the sessions. As part of this process,
members of the Committees are directly exposed to child rights issues
within their specific mandate.
104
Monitoring and Reporting
This report was sent to the HRC and, together with NGO colleagues,
Fr. Shay from PREDA made a powerful presentation during the briefing
session and the international press conference organised in Geneva prior
to the examination of the State report.
Achievements
• effective mainstreaming of juvenile justice issues in lead UN treaty
monitoring body, as complementary to reporting under the CRC,
105
Protecting the Rights of Children in Conflict with the Law
Necessary Conditions
• necessary resources for travel, translation and publication, as key
stages in the reporting process,
Source Documents:
www.omct.org, www.unhchr.ch/html/menu2/6/hrc/hrcs77.htm#79th
106
Monitoring and Reporting
Collaborating Organisations:
- Casa Alianza
- Centre for Justice and International Law (CEJIL)
- Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
- Inter-American Court on Human Rights
Country: Guatemala
Background Information
In 1990, five street-boys, aged 15-20 were kidnapped, tortured and mur-
dered by the police in Guatemala. The bodies of four of them were found
in the now infamous place called “Bosques de San Nicolás,” known as a
dumping place for cadavers during this most tragic historical period in
Guatemala. The boys’ eyes had been gouged out, their ears cut off, and
their tongues cut out. The clear message was that they had seen, listened
and talked about something they should not have. The last body was dis-
covered down an alleyway in Guatemala City shortly after the discovery
of his friend’s bodies: he had witnessed the kidnapping of his friends.
The case of the “Street Children” is the first case in the 20-year history
of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights where children were the
victims of human rights abuses. This was to be a trial that defined case
law on the rights of the child. It addresses violations of the most funda-
mental human rights; personal freedom, not be subjected to torture and
the right to life of children itself. The litigation of the case and the result-
ing judgments on the substance and compensation has created a histori-
cal change in the protection of the basic rights of children in Latin
America.
107
Protecting the Rights of Children in Conflict with the Law
until the accused were acquitted due to a judge who, in handling the
case, dismissed important evidence and witnesses in violation of the
Criminal Code Procedures.
With the help of the NGO CEJIL, Casa Alianza placed a complaint
against the State of Guatemala before the Inter-American Commission
on Human Rights in Washington – an agency of the Organisation of
American States (OAS), which was accepted in 1994. For a two-year
period there were unsuccessful discussions and negotiations facilitated
by the Commission to try and reach an agreement between the
Petitioners (Casa Alianza, CEJIL) and representatives of the State of
Guatemala. The State of Guatemala decided it did not want to reach
any friendly settlement that would imply that the State of Guatemala
violated the children’s human rights as protected by the American
Convention on Human Rights. This acceptance was a precondition of the
co-petitioners.
This case became case law and will therefore affect all future cases
involving children and becomes binding in all countries in Latin America
and the Caribbean which have ratified the jurisdiction of the Court. These
countries in Latin American and the Caribbean now have a legal mecha-
nism that can be utilised against their State if it does not apply the
American Convention on Human Rights.
Achievements
• Made the horrendous crimes against street children visible, helping to
end impunity which allows and even encourages the persistence of
human rights crimes against street children.
108
Monitoring and Reporting
• The ruling lays the groundwork for important changes in the applica-
tion of human rights law affecting children and adolescents through-
out Latin America and the Caribbean to advance guarantees of legal
protection for children and youth.
Source Documents:
Casa Alianza web site: The Bosques de San Nicolas Case http://www.casa-alian-
za.org/EN/human-rights/violations/bosquescidh/; The complete case and ruling of
the Inter-American Court on Human Rights http://www.casa-alianza.org/
EN/human-rights/violations/bosquescidh/background.phtml
109
Protecting the Rights of Children in Conflict with the Law
Collaborating Organisations
- World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)
- a local NGO, not to be named for its protection
Country: Nepal
Background Information
Since 1991, OMCT has been sending out urgent appeals under the head-
ing “Child Concern” to a specific targeted audience likely to take prompt
and effective action concerning these cases. Launching urgent appeals
specifically relating to violence against children contributes to interven-
tions in the field and raising global awareness. These urgent appeals
–which are circulated to several thousands recipients all around the
world– are also specifically addressed to relevant UN mechanisms
(i.e. Special Rapporteur on Torture, Special Rapporteur of the Sale of
Children, Child prostitution and Child Pornography, Special
Representative on Children in Armed Conflicts, 1503 Procedure) and
agencies (UNICEF, UNHCR, etc.) who use them as an important source
of information.
110
Monitoring and Reporting
found. Further, the authorities neither acknowledged his arrest nor his sup-
posed release.”
The case was taken up by Theo Van Boven, the Special Rapporteur on
Torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
Manoj was released on January 1st 2004 and is now reunited with his
family.
Achievements
• Liberation of a child arbitrarily detained and tortured
Necessary Conditions
• Checking and analysis of information
Source Documents:
www.omct.org; Annual Report of the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, para-
graph 1247 [p. 257] in E/CN.4/2004/56/Add.1
111
.